


Royalty

by Lady_Potter_Black_Riddle_Evans_Uchiha



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Female Regulus Black, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), Pureblood Politics (Harry Potter), Pureblood Society (Harry Potter), Regulus Black Feels, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:15:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23037712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Potter_Black_Riddle_Evans_Uchiha/pseuds/Lady_Potter_Black_Riddle_Evans_Uchiha
Summary: Sirius and Regulus are not raised by their parents and everything changes.ORRegulus was born Ranera.ORSirius learned what it meant to be the heir to a dark family.
Relationships: Regulus Black/Sirius Black
Comments: 5
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi this is a new story I am creating i know all of my old readers will be super mad at me but, I really wanted to get this out. I have a few more chapter of this already written so, I will be uploading quickly. Please tell me what you think in the comments below.

Ranera Black should have been born a boy. Her parents had already chosen a boy's name and all of their future plans for her had been made for a boy. When she was born let's just say they were unpleasantly disappointed. Which is how Regelus was changed to another star name of Ranera.

Though even if her parents wanted a boy she may have been better off if she was from any other pureblood family but the Blacks. She was one of the only females born to the main line of the Black family. Her aunts were testimony that she would've been better off a boy. Her aunts Lucretia and Lycoris Black respectively shows that best. Her aunt Lucretia refused to marry her brother which actually was not that weird. Their family no matter how much purebloods thought them weird for marrying relatives hardly ever married siblings. Unfortunately aunt Lucretia did want to marry though.

Her magic however, just like every other witch born into the main family line was as dark as it comes. It physically hurt to perform a light spell and it was impossible for any main family female to bond with a light wizard. While most dark pureblood families would bond with a black witch everyone knew those marriages were some of the most unhappiest in pureblood society. Black witches were vengeful and would take no cheating. While most dark wizards married wives with lighter magic than them to have a reprieve from their already dark magic. No one wanted to marry someone with even darker magic that them there would be no escape. Though most did agree that most wizards who bonded a Black main line witch had a very powerful bond.

Aunt Lucretia did something drastic. She refused to be cheated on and she did not want anyone to marry her for the potential power they would get. So, she completely stopped using dark spells to try to change her core. While most light wizards would think this is a good thing any dark magical person would know that to change your core especially from dark to light magic it would've been nicer to kill a person. In the end though she was able to change her core. She went from a completely dark core to a semi neutral one and she married a light wizard.

Though she was stopped from being disinherited because, the family she married was more neutral with light leanings. It didn't help her she had no children and everyone knew about the Prewett bastards. She might have actually been better off with a dark wizard none of them would dare have a bastard and she would have been able to have kids. The reason her womb wouldn't take is because their magic would not meld. No matter how much she tried to change it in the end her actual core was dark and his no matter how much his family claimed neutrality was light. They would not have kids and he like any other pureblood wanted an heir.

As sad as her story was if she had married at the very least a neutral wizard with dark leanings it would have gone much differently. She most likely would have had kids and even if she didn't none of them would have dared to have a bastard even without her giving them an heir because, the black family would have slaughtered them. Not that they couldn't have done that to the Prewetts but, by then she just wasn't disinherited but, she was very close no Blacks actually considered her family so none of them would fight for her. She had already ruined the face of the black family and most knew that she wasn't close to us so, any way she was shamed had nothing to do with us.

Aunt Lycoris had a completely different story. She never married and not because of a lack of choices. The Malfoys, Lestranges, and the Notts all proposed to her but, there was a problem, her magic was too dark. Oh she could have gone through the trouble and slowly changed it. But, why would she? As soon as they had gotten past the courting stage to exchange tentative courting items imbued with her magic they all ran off. Not a single one went through the trouble after that. However, she was still a Black. She had all of the power of one even if she didn't have any kids. She was or is because, when I was born she was still alive, considered the Black Matriarch. She didn't have the drawback of being married into the family and so, knew the family secrets, she was older than everyone except her brother, she had her own vault, and was the representatives for a few of the many Black seats in the Wizengamot. As far as anyone else was concerned she was the most powerful Black female and she had her own manor, it was even in her name.

As far as any female born to the main line was concerned there were two options. Torture yourself to marry a wizard who you may or may not have kids with. Or be childless and have more power than any female bonded outside of their family could dream about. It was truly only those two choices at least until Ranera Black came along.

Though personally as much as I talked about Aunt Lucretia like I said she wasn't considered family so, the most I saw her was the annual Black family Christmas dinner. Even Pureblood society knew she wasn't truly a black because, she wasn't invited to any of the annual black balls which is where the political power was wielded. The black family dinner was important as well but, that was mostly to see who had power in the family and seeing as hardly anyone did anything but, exchange pleasantries with Aunt Lucretia it was not her.

Luckily or maybe unluckily for me I was very close to my aunt Lycoris. Just like Sirius was practically raised by our grandfather as the heir to the family. As the only 'redeemable' girl in her eyes aunt Lycoris decided to raise me as her own heir. If I was a boy my parents would have been able to raise me. Sirius would have stayed with my grandfather and I could've been the son they raised personally. So, just like Sirius was raised by grandfather Arcturus, I was raised by aunt Lycoris or as I later learned to call her grandmother.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius's first lesson.

Sirius was sent to live with his grandfather at the age of one. It was when he no longer needed milk to survive and could begin learning what it meant to be the Black heir. He had no connection to a maternal figure. He only saw his parents three times a month when they were invited to a family dinner and his grandmother had died giving birth to his father. From the minute he moved into his grandfather's castle he lived, breathed, and learned the game of pureblood power.

He was taught spells that light wizards would throw up to even hear about much less do. He was made to look at everyone around him as pieces on a board. The first lesson his grandfather taught him was this.

He had his sit down and said, "Listen to me Sirius a wizard's power is made up of two things political power and magical power. One without the other is either stupid or impossible. You cannot have political power without magical power. You cannot be my heir if your are not magically powerful. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black will not acknowledge an unpowerful heir. Which is why you are the one sitting here instead of your father.

Sirius you have great potential but, so did your father and in the end the family magick rejected him as heir. You not only have to have power which both your father and you have in spades. You have to be willing to use that power. Your father was not willing to use the power he was provided with." Here he took a pause and grit his teeth like he still could not believe he had a son who would do such a thing.

He seems to see my face looks confused because he continues, "All you have to do is take your power and use it not for good or whatever foolishness a light wizard would say. But, you have to use your power to gain more power. If at thirteen you are accepted by the family magick you will be second only to a few lords in political clout. Don't listen to other people who tell you that the sacred 28 is equal. There is no such thing as equal in this society."

It was the first of many lessons he gave me and it was repeated multiple times. The second lesson was one I would never forget no matter how much I wanted to. My grandfather felt he had never truly let his son experience how the powerless live which is why he didn't grasp that you have to step over people to survive. Grandfather decided not to make that mistake with me. My first view of powerlessness was a visit to knockturn alley. He had passed all of the shops he would usually visit and dragged the two year old me behind him until we finally stopped at a cafe.

It was opposite an alleyway that seemed completely empty. I did not know why my grandfather had brought us here so I asked, "Why are we here grandfather?" He quickly told me, "Just watch and wait Sirius you will see soon enough."

So we sat there for about two more hours and when I was finally about to open my mouth and beg grandfather if we could go back he quickly silenced me with a glare. It took another thirty minutes before something happened and at this point I was quickly nodding off. Grandfather took one look at me, then lifted and turned my head to took at the window. All that came out of my mouth was a gasp. A man had just stabbed a beggar in the ribs and even though the injured beggar staggered into the street people just kept walking.

I quickly got up saying, "Grandfather we have to help him."

He took one look at me and dragged me to floo back to manor. No matter how much I tried to pull away or beg him to save the man he just kept walking. As soon as we got back to the man I started whimpering. All I could think of was that man and the way he begged and pleaded for someone to help but, no one would.

My grandfather quickly picked me up and carried me to his office. He sat me in the chair across from his desk which is how I knew this was going to be a lesson. However, as much as I tried to quiet my whimpers, I couldn't. What he said was so cold it shocked me into silence. "This is what it means to be powerless Sirius. It means having a person step right over your corpse in the middle of the street. It means no one caring one bit if you live or die. It means no one will help you when you are down."

I kept sniffling but, this time I had a question of my own, "But, we could've helped him right grandfather? Why didn't we?" At this he closes his eyes for a second then breathes and he says, "This will be the hardest lesson you learn especially at your age but, I hope you'll accept this lesson and not learn the hard way. If we had fallen there and needed to beg for someone to help us it would've been worse. Everyone always looks for a way to topple powerful people. So, you can never give them a weakness to grasp. If we had helped that man someone would have reproached us in the wizengamot and weakened our political power.

All for a stranger we do not know and would most likely never meet again. Kindness does not beget kindness my grandson and the only way you should ever take a risk is if ensure a return. The only way I would've saved that man is if he had power that would translate into a worthwhile life debt. I do not need powerless people to owe me. It would be a waste of time and effort because, they would never pay it back. I am not going to risk myself for a maybe or a chance. If there is only one lesson that really sticks with you let it be this Sirius kindness means nothing in a world where power rules."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranera's first lesson.

Ranera was sent to live with her aunt Lycoris at the age of two. Unlike Sirius who automatically went to live with their grandfather. Her aunt had to take interest in her first and when she did, she immediately took her under her wing.

She remembers the first time she met aunt Lycoris. It was at one of the semi-weekly dinner parties her grandfather had. Only the closest of family was invited. Both aunt Lycoris and my parents were included on this list. It was the first time they had taken me with them. I had recently turned two and they had dressed me in a pretty purple dress. My hair was swept up into two buns on my head and I looked like a doll.

We first had lunch and then my mother and father went to catch up with Sirius while I was left with Aunt Lycoris. My grandfather had excused himself earlier. For the first five minutes she didn't say anything but then she said, "Come here child."

At the time I didn't know this conversation would change my life. She asked me a simple question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" There are a lot of answers to this question. I could have told her any number of things that would have made me seem ambitious and with great potential but, I was two and so I said, "I don't know."

For a second, she looked stunned like she couldn't believe this answer. Later I will learn that she had been looking for an heir for a very long time and by this point the entire family knew it. She had tried Bellatrix who had told her she wanted to be heir. As much as she sympathized with her, she also understood that some things could not be and the power she was reaching for was too much for Aunt Lycoris to give her.

The next girl was Andromeda who said she wanted to be free. Aunt Lycoris couldn't understand her wish, she thought it was stupid and knew this girl didn't know what being free truly meant. It meant powerless and broke and this little girl in front of her was wearing a dress that could feed a family for a year.

The last person she asked was Narcissa but, by that time their parents had caught on to what was going on and trained Narcissa in what to say, her answer was she wanted to be the wife of a lord. None of these answers was what she wanted to hear. Truthfully, she didn't even know what she wanted to hear but, none of those were it.

My answer shocked her. I was the youngest one she had asked. She asked the rest of them at around five which is why my parents had not started prepping me with answers yet. It took a while for her to calm down but, when she did all she said was, "Okay."

I didn't understand what that okay meant until a week later when she showed up with a signed order from my grandfather saying Aunt Lycoris was my new guardian and I would become her ward for the foreseeable future.

As soon as I had moved in with her, she waited a week until she started her first lesson with me. She sat me down in her parlor and said, "A witch's weapons are three things etiquette, magic, and secrets. These are the most important component of power to a witch.

As my ward I am going to give you your first weapon, a secret. Your Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella became pregnant at a young age and their families rushed the marriage to hush up the scandal it would cause. They were both lucky and unlucky, the baby ended up being Bellatrix, a girl.

Your aunt Druella was lucky because, even if some wizards from lower families would take the loss of bonding a wife who wasn't a virgin because, her family was more powerful. None of them would have bonded a woman who was pregnant before especially with another man's baby. Your Uncle Cygnus was unlucky because, while the Rosier family was sacred 28 there was a contract being drawn up for him to a Selwyn girl who was much more intelligent and charming even though her family was a bit weaker. She would have raised his standing much more that Druella did. His father Prollox thought the child would be a boy and bet his son’s happiness on it. In the end they didn't get the promised boy.

When Cygnus was thirteen Orion was twenty-one and had already been rejected by the family magick as heir. Unfortunately, so was Cygnus, his father was betting it all on a grandson. If the grandson was shown to have promise, there was a chance my brother might consider him for the main line. If my brother took him as his ward, he would give him the chance to try to be accepted as the family heir.

This is a family secret that is known to most Blacks even if it's not common knowledge in the pureblood world so, it cannot be used as much as it could years ago but, it's also a lesson. Secrets no matter how useless they may seem should always be remembered because, eventually most of them have a use. There was a secret that took thirty years for me to find a use for but, find a use I did. Oh, and the most important thing, never write your secrets down if you can't remember them it's better to forget than to write them down. Secrets written down become not just a weapon against a person but, one against yourself. Never leave traces of your weapons to be discovered.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay everyone I know it's been a while but, this time it really wasn't my fault. This is a ridiculously long chapter and I had like half of a draft of it sitting on my computer for a good month because I had prewritten like six chapter but this one wasn't finished. You know what after I put it like that it is kind of my fault.

Sirius thought his grandfather was harsh when he took him to realize what true powerless was in the world but, his first and second lessons were simple. If nothing else, they were easy to understand and remember. It was when they got to the third lesson that things really got complicated. His grandfather had taken him to the study and said, “Sirius now it’s time for me to teach you about the other pureblood houses. I’ll mostly go over the Sacred 28 but, with a few other households that are powerful but, not considered Sacred 28.”

Here he took a pause and seemed to be debating but, eventually said, “Firstly let me explain something Sacred 28 means you have an ancestry that goes back hundreds of years that you can prove is all pureblood. However, someone is considered pureblood if they have a pureblood ancestry going back three generations. That does not mean the title of Sacred 28 is not important though.

You only must look at the hypocritical light wizards to see that. No matter how much they claim to support mudbloods every single light wizard in the Sacred 28 still has an ancestry going back hundreds of years that is all pureblood and not one of them have ever seriously considered bonding with a mudblood. Remember that Sirius it is usually a good way to shut down a light wizard who calls us ‘backwards thinkers’ tell them it’s the wand calling the tree wood.”

He quickly shakes his head like he got off track and says, “Anyway, let’s go over the first house.” Here he looks through a list and then smirks and says, “Okay, this is a good place to start House Selwyn. Neutral, though their magic probably leans toward dark. In the political arena though its neutral all the way. Good for tricking your sister but, not good for marriage. They weaken way too easily.”

Here I interrupted and raised my hand asking, “What do you mean good for tricking your sister Grandfather?” He waves his hand and says, “I’ll tell you later. Anyway, they have mostly daughters. Most generations they can have one son as an heir but, some generations they are not able to, so they have an heiress instead. Those generations never go well most don’t want to do business with a woman and the wizard who bonds her is made a laughingstock and most of the things they propose in the Wizengamot are just ignored.”

That gives me another question and I immediately raise my hand and say, “But, grandfather isn’t Aunt Lycoris allowed on the Wizengamot what’s the difference?” He breathes deeply and says, “First of all Sirius please stop interrupting at least save your questions until after I’ve finished describing a house. The difference is your aunt has the entire weight of House Black behind her no one would dare snub her no matter how much they do not think a woman should rule. The Sewlyn house motto is gratia flexibus et vibrare sagax translated loosely to grace and poise. Most also make fun of them for that because, most people believe the reason they have so much girls might have been because their founder was a woman. In terms of power in the Sacred 28 they are probably a low-level house with only 9 seats in the Wizengamot which is also a reason no one truly listens when their Lady proposes a vote.”

Here he takes a pause like he’s waiting for another question but, I don’t have one, so he moves on, “Next House Potter not Sacred 28 but, they would have been if at the time most people didn’t know almost as a fact that their founder had muggle blood somewhere in their line which is where the last name comes from. If they were Sacred 28, they would be a low mid-level family because they have about 17 seats in the Wizengamot. Their house motto is primum honorem translated to honor first. From their motto you would assume they would be light but, they are not. They are neutral with light leanings though. Their current patriarch Charlus potter is married to Dorea Potter nee Black they are both neutral but, everyone knows the side branch Fleamont Potter, his wife, and their son are all decidedly light.

Seeing as Charlus and Dorea potter have no kids as long as James Potter is accepted as the heir to the Potter family they will most certainly turn light.”

Here he took a deep breath and seemed to think about something, “Well Sirius he should be about your age you do not need to but, if you could he would be an interesting ally to have. With the way things are going though he’ll definitely be in Gryffindor and unless you end up there too the chance of making him an ally is slim to none.”

Here he snarls like he is thinking of something particularly unpleasant and says, “Next House Prewett otherwise known as the house your aunt married into. She honestly could not pick any place worse they are not only neutral and just barley walking the line of being light. They are also a low-level house with only 12 seats. Their motto is familia primum otherwise known as family first but, you do not have to worry about that. It’s false your aunt could attest to that, and if it is true, they have a very skewed view of who counts as family.”

He takes a pause to give me a chance to ask a question, so I ask, “What aunt married into the Prewetts and why don’t they put family first?” He looks confused here like he didn’t realize I didn’t know and says, “Oh right you haven’t been to a yearly Christmas party yet. Anyway, it is not important you will learn about it eventually. Next is House Yaxley their house words are pecunia loquitur which translates into money speaks. For them, this phrase is extremely true they are one of the richer families in the Sacred 28 and with 37 seats they are considered a high mid-level house. They are firmly on the dark side and unfortunately for us we contributed to a bit of their wealth by adding extra galleons to the now Lady Yaxley’s dowry.

The most important is House Black. First, I am going over our motto. Most people think our house words are Toujours Pur which as you can see unlike other words are in French instead of latin. Well this is a case of things getting lost in translation. Our family did spend a few generations in France before coming back to England which is why we have significant estates there. In Latin however our motto is potentia pura semper which translates to always pure power. Not always pure how people like to think that means blood purity which we stand for just as much as the next pureblood family but, our actual motto represents that to us power should always be the most important thing.

We represent a different teir of family. With 117 seats we have power equal to few others in the wizarding world. When you have that many seats politically, you are anything you want to be. While most people call our political stand dark. Most of the time, we vote on whatever bill help us the most at that time. Magically though we are very dark. I happen to know that the Black family has the darkest magic in England. Though the family descended from Slytherin is close. I am significantly sure an ancestor of ours dabbled in a ritual they should not have and subsequent generations keeping up the tradition did not help.

There are three more families that are basically on equal political standing with us. Most of them are firmly on one side. Unlike us who are only on our side.

There is the Gaunts, who have always been firmly dark. There are rumors about an heir being founded, but most have written the house off as basically dead though technically there is one last Lord in Azkaban. They hold about 105 seats though for some reason they did stop using them about a hundred years ago. They became very reclusive. Their house words are sanguis vita superarit which loosely translates to blood survives most could not tell what this means. Most people know they are descended from Salazar Slytherin so, some think it means purebloods rule. While others think because, every time you think the Gaunts have died out another shows up, it means the Gaunts themselves always survive. Only they know the meaning and they change their meaning from generation to generation. There have been some very pureblood obsessed of them but, there have also been a few very politically powerful lords who never said what they thought so no one truly knows. Wealth wise though they have truly only held onto their ancestral home. Which I know for a fact they have been locked out of because, though they have a ‘lord’ in Azkaban he didn’t invoke his right as a Lord of the Wizengamot so most are pretty sure he wasn’t accepted as head of the family.

Next are the Shafiqs most are very sure they did not even descend from England but, no one would ever accuse them of it to their faces. With 113 seats they hold political clout equal to only three other houses one of which includes us. Though whether they were originally from England or not they have been here for hundreds of years. Long enough for them to build up a significant amount of political power and wealth. Their words are Numquam obliviscar which translates to never forget.

Most are very sure that has something to do with revenge because, every enemy that crosses the Shafiq family ends up ruined. They are very neutral and when I say neutral, I mean it. They do not vote on any laws that are too much on the dark or light side. Their heir is around your age if you only make one ally in the entire time you are at school try to let it be the Shafiq heir. Or at least who is supposed to be their heir. If their family magick does not accept him, you never know. Wealth wise not many families can compete with them us being the only one in England I am pretty sure. Another reason most people think they are from another country is because most of their estates are in the middle east.

Also, because the goblins are so vengeful, they let it be known that the Shafiq family keeps their galleons in the Middle Eastern headquarters of gringrotts. Which there is nothing wrong with because, it is still gringrotts but, every branch of the bank gets a commission from an account so, they are a bit angry about it. Their magic affiliation is not known. They do not marry many witches from England and they hardly have daughters so, there is no witch’s gossip to say what type of magic her bonded or her brother has.

The last family with our level of political clout is the Fawley family. They are significantly on the light side. They have light magic and always vote for very light bills in the Wizengamot. Wealth wise though while a bit better than the Gaunts because they have more than just their ancestral manor, they are nowhere at the level of our family or the Shafiqs. They at least have a few manors to fall back on if they ever get locked out of their ancestral manor unlike the Gaunts. Their house words are primum salvos which means survive first. Which they fully understand. They have been on the brink of extinction multiple times or on the losing side of a blood feud but, they have done whatever it took to survive.

They probably should not even be on the Sacred 28 list because, at one point their pureblood heir was killed so, the patriarch brought in a half-blood bastard he had. No one is willing to go up and say it though because of their power. Someone as powerful as them probably could but, why would they? They have bribed, killed, and ruined people to stay where they are and even if we could get them to lose their sacred 28 status no one is willing to take the risk without getting some reward back. You will probably never get them to be an ally but, there is no sense in making them an enemy.

The only families in our tier that that are feuding are the Gaunts and the Fawleys there is no sense in getting between that. They are two houses who are known to bounce back from almost extinction, we are not. They have 103 seats in the Wizengamot.

Another family is the Rosiers they are your maternal aunt by marriage’s family. They would be considered a mid-tier family with only 20 seats. Though they are extremely stupid.”

Here I was very confused so, I immediately raised my hand to ask, “Grandfather what do you mean they are stupid?” He pauses for a bit to think and says, “Well, stupid is probably the wrong word but, they are easily tricked. Your aunt Druella was not smart enough to arm herself with a fertility charm to become the heiress of the side branch which means someone must have done it for her. I do not know who that someone is but, I doubt their intentions were good. So she was stupid but, we do not really have any interactions with the Rosier family itself because, they are a neutral family with dark leanings. So, for the family itself I would not know how smart they are. Though their magic is dark even if they have one of the lighter dark cores.

That is how surprisingly your cousins ended up with much lighter magic than usual. Even if the main branch of our family has the darkest magic the side branch usually also ends up with very dark magic but, because of your aunt Druella’s magic. Your cousins’ magic came out as a mid-level dark magic. One that could go either way it is easier to change the core to fully dark or somewhat neutral.

Next is the Malfoy family with 53 seats in the Wizengamot they are the highest level a family can get without being one of the top four. The only reason they are not apart of the high four is because, they had just recently come over from France when the Wizengamot seats were give out. Unlike us who were originally from England and we moved to France for a few generations. As far as I know the Blacks of that time was running from something. I think that is also the reason the Malfoys came to England they were running as well. The Malfoys are descended from France and it shows they have truly politically astute minds seeing as they went from being outsiders to a very powerful pureblood family. While most of their wealth is in France, they have managed to have a few estates and summer houses in England. Their House words are serpere excelsis which loosely translates to crawl high. Which they embody well because, they do whatever it takes to have more power. I am surprised the Lord has not asked one of the Four families for an engagement yet. Nobody knows anything about the gaunts yet so, they would be out. However, The Fawley family has a daughter and your cousins from the side branch are daughters of the four families as well. Those are four girls from the four families. Your sister too but, most people do not ask for the hand of a Main branch Black girl until much later in life.

Though at this point I am wondering if the Malfoy family is planning to move their power base back to France. Though the daughter of the main house is in Hogwarts the heir of house Malfoy apparently went to Beauxbatons. If it were Durmstrang it could be said that they were just trying to move into mainland Europe but Beauxbatons has a strong French presence. I did hear that most of their properties are in France and a side branch of their family is looking after it. So, it would not be too weird if the main family was planning to move their powerbase to France and sending their heir to school there to make alliances first.

Another family is the Prince family they are high middle teir with 35 seats in the wizengamot. They are somewhat rich in that they have a few mansions in England as in their main mansion, a few holiday mansions, and their emergency fortress when there is a war. Most families have an emergency fortress from the past pureblood wars but, I know people say it was scarier to get past their walls than to wait outside them because, of all the traps and poisons. Though they are at significant risk of dying out. Last I heard their daughter ran off and their heir had died even before the daughter ran off. Their house words are nulla misericordia which in English is no mercy. I do not know about today but, during the pureblood wars they embodied their words.

Next are the Weasley family they are only sacred 28 because, of their ancestors they have fallen so far they sold their main mansion and are only holding on to what used to be one of their holiday houses and they only have about 3 seats in wizengamot. While it has something to do with them at the same time it does not. The Weasleys and the Malfoys were engaged once when the Weasleys had much more political clout and the Malfoys had less. It was a few generations after the Malfoys had come over. The Weasley heir was supposed to marry the main branch daughter. The Weasley heir ran off with a lesser pureblood girl and shamed the main house daughter of the Malfoys. The Malfoys of course demanded recompense, they wanted his head or the Weasleys had to pay the price for breaking the contract. Obviously the Weasleys would not let their heir die so they paid the price for breaking the contract. It took away a significant amount of their wealth but, not enough to kill them.

At that time, the Malfoys were not as powerful as now and could not just roll with the punches and engage their daughter to someone else. Her reputation was stained and as far as anyone was concerned it made no sense for the Weasley heir to just run off. They thought she did something and the Weasleys subtly encouraged this because of the exorbitant price they had to pay to break the betrothal. They were angry and spread some untoward rumors. Back then was not like now where you could sometimes sweep a pureblood girl losing her virtue under the rug if she were married to a lesser house. Everyone thought she was ruined; her reputation was forever stained. No one would marry her, and she could not take it. She hung herself in her room. A house elf discovered her after she did not come down for breakfast.

The Malfoys wanted revenge after that. As far as they were concerned this never would have happened if the heir did not shame her this way and even though they just demanded the recompense due in the contract the Weasleys then went and stained her reputation. So, they declared a blood feud and it is still ongoing to this day. Family magick does not easily let go of blood feuds that started because of a death. It becomes a you die, or I die thing. Even though the Malfoys have basically driven the Weasleys to poverty and powerlessness. Their family magick still does not consider the matter done because, the Weasley family isn’t dead and the family magick does not view them as having paid recompense for the loss.”

I was confused here though so I raised my hand and asked, “Grandfather hasn’t the Black family had multiple blood feuds that had deaths but, were ended quickly?” He smiles and says, “I didn’t think you would catch that Sirius those were different those were blood feuds that started and then there was a death. Do you not think that during the most heated parts of the blood feud there was not any deaths on the Weasley side either? There were but most blood feuds start over slights or something being stolen. This blood feud started over an actual life being lost. The Malfoy family magick is not going to let this go easily. Most blood feuds are wars, deaths are expected but when the family magick sees that the opposing family has paid their due or it is deemed too hazardous for the family to continue it. The lord of the family calls a stop from a hint from the family magick. The family magick is deeply ingrained in the lord and heir of a house. It is like a connection in the back of your mind. A blood feud becomes a constant pulling on the mind that the House Lord feels a need to correct. It is why they usually do not last long because most Lords want to get rid of the feeling. There are hardly any blood feuds that last as long as the Weasleys and Malfoys have.”

I get confused at that and raise my hand to ask, “Grandfather I read that the blood feud between the Potter’s and the Prince’s was the bloodiest of them all though?” He laughs and says, “Well that’s true it took them two generations to completely wipe out their main branches and the side branch took over and each of their family magick considered it not worth it to continue. However, while it was bloody to wipe out so many people it only lasted two generations this thing between the Malfoys and Weasleys has been going for almost four hundred years. Though the Princes and Potters still to this day cannot stand each other it is not like the Weasleys and Malfoys who still actively antagonize each other if they see each other on the street.

I think that is all we are going to go over for today Sirius. These are the most important families for you to know about now and we will go over the rest at a later date.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranera sees something very interesting and another thing that is very troubling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess in the comments section what is what? I'll mess with your minds and say they may or may not be mutually exclusive.

The second lesson was the one I truly remembered though. I had lived with my aunt for a year and during that time she mostly went over etiquette with me. It was late at night and my aunt came to wake me up. She dragged me from my bed in my underclothes and when we finally got to the parlor, she put me behind the curtain and said, “Stay there and don’t make any noise or move at all. I will place a charm where no one can see you, but you can see through the curtain. Watch carefully.”

I didn’t truly understand what was going on but, I still immediately quieted down and held my hand over my mouth. It took a few seconds but, my aunt did eventually charm the curtain and I could clearly see what was going on. I still didn’t truly understand but, a few seconds after another lady came by floo.

My aunt says, “Hello Lady Yaxley.” The lady’s face tightens and the smile she gives is more of a grimace but, she still bows and says, “Hello Lady Black.” Usually my aunt as an unmarried woman would be below the married lady Yaxley but, The Black family does not have a lady so, my aunt automatically takes that place as the highest ranking unmarried black female and is given the same respect lady Black would be given.

My aunt invites her to sit and for the next ten minutes they have small talk. At some point I was slowly drifting back off to sleep at least until their tone of voices changed. My aunt went from talking pleasantly to pouncing. She said, “Lady Yaxley are you happy being married to Lord Yaxley?” The lady looks confused and quickly recovers by saying, “Of course.”

My aunt immediately went in for the kill, “So, you wouldn’t want anything to threaten it would you?” Lady Yaxley immediately goes back on guard and quickly says, “of course not.” My aunt smiles at this and says, “Seeing as we have such a great partnership,” here Lady Yaxley flinches but, my aunt continues, “There is something you need to know that I can tell you.”

Lady Yaxley waits like she knows what’s coming next, my aunt finishes with a smile that would be better suited on a shark than on a woman as beautiful as she is, “For a price.” Lady Yaxley is silent for a minute and then she asks, “How much is it worth?”

My aunt smiles then like the kneazle that got the canary and says, “You’re going to have to tell me that lady Yaxley.” Lady Yaxlex seems to be silent for a while and then she says, “How am I supposed to know if the secret is worth what I give up in return?”

My aunt actually looks vaguely insulted and says, “How long have we been doing this Lady Yaxley? To forget your first secret, I let you give me a secret of equal importance and we continued from there. Have I ever once taken a secret that was worth more than a secret I gave in return?”

Lady Yaxley thinks for a moment and then says, “Heir Rowle almost ran off with a mudblood.” When that gets no reaction from my aunt, she tried with two secrets this time, “Heir Parkison and Heir Macmilan entered a blood feud but, their families are covering it up and, there are rumors that someone claimed the gaunt heirship.” She pauses here and seems to think that would be enough but, my aunt crushes that hope by saying, “Even if I didn’t know these things earlier which I did my secret is worth more than all of these combined.”

Here Lady Yaxley took a pause and she asked, “Is the secret important to me or just important?” My aunt smiled here and said, “Let’s just say if you don’t get advanced notice on this secret you may end up losing everything.”

It seems Lady Yaxley decided to trust my aunt and said, “Okay, lady Sienna is back.” For a second my aunt looked confused and so was I because, Sienna was not a last name so it could only be the name of an unmarried lady but, I didn’t know why this would be a good secret. My aunt seemed to suddenly remember something though because she quickly asks, “Your aunt she’s back?” All Lady Yaxley did was nod and ask, “So, what’s the secret you have for me?”

My aunt wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore but, that snapped her out of it, and she said, “Your husband is keeping Viviana Greengrass as a mistress and she is eyeing your place as lady Yaxley. Usually that is all I would say but, this information is worth even more that just that. A little bird told me she was looking up bond breaking spells and not the fake ones that are found in the bookstores but, the real ones that the ministry classified as dark magic.”

It took about two minutes for Lady Yaxley to take this in and it seemed the longer she thought about it the paler her face got. In the end she got up and said, “It was wonderful meeting you Lady Black I will see you again next time.” After that she quickly curtsied and left by floo.

To me it was weird though because, my aunt always told me that etiquette was the most important thing but, she didn’t wish Lady Yaxley a good night as she left. I waited a few minutes but, my aunt never came to take me from behind the curtain. Now, I was worried because, my aunt was never like this and right now she was just sitting there staring at nothing.

I quickly left from behind the curtain and went up to her. It was like she didn’t see me so, I touched her and asked, “Aunt Lycoris are you okay?” That snapped her out of it and she quickly shook her head and said, “Of course, Ranera I’m fine. Now, that was a lesson I was giving you on how to reap benefits from secrets you have. Do you have any questions?”

I had multiple questions the first one being why she was so freaked out by the mention of an unmarried lady she forgot etiquette. However, I knew from being taught by my aunt this long that she wouldn’t answer those type of question first so I asked, “Who was she and why did she give you that secret? What type of relationship do you have with her?”

Here she seems to think but, in the end, she says, “You’ll eventually learn about it anyway let’s start early. She was Lady Yaxley married to Lord Yaxley but, before that she was Lady Sabrina Sewlyn. Otherwise known as your Uncle Cygnus’ almost fiancé. She gave me that secret because of a secret I had to give her. Our relationship is a mutually beneficial one I guess.”

I had another question though because, it didn’t seem that mutually beneficial to me, “What is the first secret you mentioned that started this?” Here my aunt smirks and says, “Good you caught that if you didn’t, I would have been worried my lessons didn’t sink in. Remember watch everything Ranera. The first secret that started it all is one that most would say I shouldn’t have kept. Lady Sabrina before she was married was very good friends with your aunt Druella and she used that friendship well.”

Here my aunt pauses like she wasn’t sure if she should continue, “You are three not stupid. What I’m about to explain to you is very important, never fall into a trap like this one. Lady Sabrina made your Aunt Druella think it was okay to have relations before marriage. Which it might have been. The Rosiers were a mid-tier Sacred 28 family and she wasn’t very charming most likely she was never going to marry into a family significantly more powerful than hers. Lady Sabrina pushed her into your Uncle’s bed. Later we found out that it should have been impossible for your aunt Druella to become pregnant without a fertility charm. So, I did some digging of my own. Lady Sabrina felt that being the Lady of another family was better than being the heiress to the side branch of the Blacks.”

Here she smirks and says, “So, she sent her friend into her future fiancés bed armed with a fertility charm and when that friend came running to her saying she was pregnant she immediately let the Rosiers know. She now had the freedom to find another husband and no one even blamed her for the issue in fact the Black family promised to add a few thousand galleons to her dowry.”

At this point I was shocked and the only thing I could think to ask was, “Did you tell grandfather?” At this point she looks me right in the eye and says, “Why would I do that? Let me tell you something Ranera at that point nothing would change. Druella and Cygnus were already married and the only thing that would happen was no one would be willing to marry Lady Sabrina. Of course, she knew this too which is why when I came to her with this secret, she immediately offered up a secret of even more importance. Which is how this relationship of mutual benefit started.”

Well that explained her relationship with Lady Yaxley but, I still wanted to know the rest. I wasn’t sure if I should or even could ask it. My aunt must have seen the hesitation on my face because she said, “Go on I know you have something else to ask don’t worry you can.” When she said it, I immediately asked, “Who is Lady Sienna? Why is she back? Where did she go? Why did she leave in the first place? Why is an unmarried lady important to you?”

My aunt smiled and said, “Breathe Ranera don’t worry I’ll answer your questions there is no need to feel so rushed.” She took a pause and I could see the conflict in her face but, she still said, “Lady Sienna used to be your grandfather’s mistress and my best friend. I don’t know why she’s back but, I sure know why she left.”

After another very long pause, she said, “Ranera no matter what always remember power is more important than anything. It’s more important than love. It’s more important than happiness and for me it was more important than friendship.” Here she took a shaky breath and said, “I had been friends with Lady Sienna from we were both eight years old. I knew more of her secrets than anyone alive. At least I thought so.”

Here she takes another shaky breath and forces a smile to say, “Do you know what my most powerful weapon is Ranera? It’s house elves, most purebloods overlook house elves they think of them as the furniture and I capitalized on that. Most house elves if you show them just a bit of kindness would be forever loyal to you. Really you don’t even have to be kind to them you just have to treat them better than the average pureblood.

They also gossip as much as a group of unmarried pureblood females would. So, with one house elf more loyal to me than anyone else I had built up an empire of secrets by the time I was seventeen. Of course, I did get Black family secrets before others. Other pureblood household secrets took at least a week for me to get however, most Black family secrets I got the day of or the day after it had occurred.

Lady Sabrina told me when we were eighteen that she wouldn’t bond because, if she did, we couldn’t be as close anymore. I didn’t believe this of course and I immediately had my house elf find out what was the actual reason. The true reason was because my friend had lost her virtue to a half-blood.

To most in the sacred 28 this was worse than losing your virtue to a mudblood because there are ways to cover that up. Most ladies pass off the mudblood as the long-lost heir of some forgotten pureblood family and rushes a bonding to another pureblood. Of course, it eventually comes out that this was a lie but, by then they are bonded and like I said to break a bond is a dark and tedious process that the ministry immediately investigates.

Most sacred 28 aren’t even scared of that because, the ministry will most likely never get to arrest a sacred 28 pureblood, the entirety of the sacred 28 would rise up to make sure it didn’t happen because, they would all be thinking, are we next? What they are sacred of is the backlash the other family would cause. No one would like a lady of their family to be shamed and most who are caught in that type of scandal are married off to a weaker family. They fear family solicitors coming to take away half of their property. After all who wants to be free if you must be broke or at least half as rich as you were before. So, it quickly devolves into an unhappy bonding.

However, there is no way you could write off a halfblood as the secret heir to some died out family. Most of their births are quite the scandal and most purebloods know exactly who their respective parents are. You could probably get away with it if the halfblood was at least the heir of the family though a sacred 28 pureblood wouldn’t marry you another lesser pureblood might.

My brother of course as the stupid man he is wouldn’t realize what a woman losing her virtue looks like so, when the person doing to bonding performs the spell and figures out she didn’t have her virtue my brother will be the pureblood who steps up and acknowledges he took it. Of course, she had already calculated for this though which is why she became his mistress. She couldn’t bond because, no pureblood 28 would come up to say they had taken her virtue. What she didn’t calculate for was me.

I had just become Lady Black. I had done things to get to this position that grown men even dark wizards would shudder at. The moment I found out my brother was in the process of proposing a bonding all I could think was, ‘she wanted to take this from me?’

At that moment our friendship was done. I got rid of any feelings of friendship I had for her. That friend I knew from eight was dead and all I could see was someone threatening my power in her place. So, I simply told her she had two days to get out of England or I was going to let every pureblood know that she had lost her virtue to a halfblood bastard whose pureblood father still hadn’t acknowledged them. She knew as well as I did, she was trapped. If there was one thing I knew about my brother it was that he didn’t like to share and he would immediately pull out of any previous relationship they had and no pureblood, man or woman would interact with her afterwards. She would be a social pariah.

Last I heard she went somewhere on the continent and I hadn’t seen or heard from her since. So, no Ranera I don’t know what she’s doing here but, trust me I’m going to find out.”

I had one more question for my aunt, “Aunt lycoris what did you do to become Lady Black?”

Here she smiles very sadly and says, “Ranera I’m not going to tell you this at least not yet. It’s not because, you’re too young either, the only way I’m ever going to tell you is if you do something so bad you need to know that someone had done worse. To tell you the truth I hope you never have to be told this. Truly Ranera I really hope you don’t”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, guys I’m sure this explained some questions people had but, here is my question to everyone. Would you like a prequel about Lycoris and Arcturus? To tell you the truth it would go much more in depth about there story and explain some things. I am sure some of you think they are both kind of harsh but, their story would explain why. Oh, and if you guys think this is complex you have not seen anything yet. Hint these beginning chapters set up for a lot of politics.
> 
> Oh and here is my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ladyblackuchiha) if anyone wants to geek out with me. I haven't really posted anything yet but I will after I update most of my stories.


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